Shooting Scripts: Breaking Down Audio vs. Visual

Do you prefer television ads that are driven by visuals or driven by audio? Have you ever noticed the difference between the two? Compare these two ads and their shooting scripts. One ad is entirely driven by visual shots while the other uses both audio and visual to tel a story. Which one is your favorite?

Apple Watch-Us

	Video	Audio
1.	Medium shot of rider on train staring longingly out the window. He looks at his Apple Watch to see a female contact’s phase. He taps her face and a hand drawn, “Hi,” appears on the screen. He smiles.	Slow, somber piano music.
2.	Wide shot of a man walking down a snowy street. Someone walks by.	Piano music. Man: “Hi,”
3.	Medium shot of guest arriving to a party and handing the hostess a gift. They kiss one another on the cheek.	Piano music.
4.	Medium shot of two friends who run into one another on the street. They look excited to see on another. They hug.	Piano music with added orchestra. Friend: “Hey!” Other friend: “What’s going on man!”
5.	Medium shot of woman sitting in art gallery. She looks down at her Watch and the hand drawn image of an arrow appears.	Same music.
6.	Wide shot as the woman in the art gallery looks up to see someone she knows standing at the balcony. He waves.
7.	Close up shot of a man’s watch on his wrist. He is sitting at the kitchen table with his girlfriend. He types something on his watch. She looks down at her watch, and then looks back up at him and smiles.	Same music. The sound of the watch’s notification going off.
8.	Close up shot of a man riding the subway and looking at his watch. An emoji smiley face with heart eyes appears on the screen.	Same music.
9.	Two women are riding on the back of the train. One woman puts her coat round the other’s shoulders.	Same music.
10.	Close up shot of a man’s wrist as he swipes his watch in front of his hotel’s door lock.	Door lock beeps
11.	Medium shot of him and his wife entering their hotel room	Same music
12.	Medium shot of woman setting up a camera in front of her boyfriend and a flock of sheep. She runs back to her boyfriend and together they pose for the photo.	Same music
13.	Medium shot of a couple sitting in a restaurant enjoying a drink.	Same music
14.	Medium shot of a couple embracing in bed.	Same music.
15.	Close up shot of an apple watch displaying a missed call screen	Same music
16.	Medium shot of a woman serving in a kitchen, putting down her wrist and gazing out over the bar.	Same music
17.	Medium shot of a woman sitting in a car as a man leans over to look in the window.	Same music
18.	Medium shot through a rain-streaked window of a woman sitting in a restaurant by herself. She looks down at her watch which displays the text message, “I’m Sorry.” And the response, “Me too.”	Same music The beep of the watch notification
19.	Close up shot of a man’s watch as he swipes it against a credit card scanner to make a payment	Same music
20.	Medium shot of a couple kissing in a restaurant.	Same music
21.	Medium shot of a couple kissing in the street.	Same music
22.	Medium shot of a man walking down a street with trees in the background	Same music
23.	Long shot of a man reading in bed. He looks down at his Apple Watch and sees a heart beat appear on the screen. He puts down his hand and smiles.	Same music
24.	Black text on a white background reads, “The Watch is Here.” Followed by the Apple Watch logo.	Same music

This video was very image heavy and did not rely on audio to tell the story. The audio offered ambience and a bit of realism in each scene. The quick shot from scene to scene tell the story of numerous characters and demonstrates that the Apple Watch will have a place in everyone’s life. It is advertised as a tool that people use to connect with one another and enhance or improve their relationships.

http://apple.com/watch/films/#film-usatch/films/#film-us

Dorito’s Time Machine

	Video	Audio
1.	Long shot of Mr. Smith walking down a suburban street. He is eating a bag of Dorito’s. He walks by Jimmy, who is working on a cardboard contraption with the words “Time Machine” written on it in black marker.	Jimmy: “Hey Mr. Smith! Would you like to try out my time machine?”
2.	Medium shot of Jimmy standing next to the time machine, petting a golden retriever.	Jimmy: “It runs on Doritos.”
3.	Medium shot of Mr. Smith holding the Dorito bag in one hand and a Dorito in the other. He looks stupefied for a moment, puts the Dorito Chip in his mouth.	Mr. Smith: “Sure”
4.	Close up shot of Mr. Smith inside the time machine, eating Dorito’s. He’s excited.	Mr. Smith: “So now what happens?”
5.	Close up shot of Jimmy.	Jimmy: “You have to put the whole bag in!”
6.	Close up shot of the interior of the cardboard time machine, where words are written in marker, “Insert Doritos Here for Time Machine.” A hole is cut into the cardboard that leads to the outside.
7.	Close up shot of Mr. Smith reaching down to feed the Dorito bag into the hole.	Mr. Smith: “Ok,”
8.	Close up shot of the exterior of the cardboard.   As Jimmy’s hand grabs the bag.
9.	Medium shot of Jimmy feeding the Doritos to the golden retriever.	Jimmy: “Yes!”
10.	Close up shot of Mr. Smith as the time machine begins to move.	Music ascending to a dramatic crescendo. Mr. Smith: “It’s really working Jimmy!”
11.	Close up shot of Jimmy with a megaphone	Jimmy making “time machine noises” into the mega phone
12.	Long shot of Jimmy, sitting in a chair, repeatedly kicking the sides of the time machine to make it move. The golden retriever continues to eat Doritos.	Jimmy continues to make “time machine noises” into the mega phone.
13.	Medium shot of Mr. Smith making shocked and scared faces as the time machine continues to shake. Lights around the time machine flash.	Mr. Smith: “This is the best moment of my life!”
14.	Long shot of an old man coming out of the house yelling.	Old man: “Get out of my yard!” Music tension builds and is then interrupted by record needle scratch.
15.	Close up shot of Mr. Smith looking shocked as the time machine abruptly stops moving.
16.	Long shot of old man walking up the time machine as Mr. Smith climbs out of it, looking dumbfounded and confused.
17.	Medium shot of Mr. Smith looking baffled at the old man.	Mr. Smith: “Jimmy?”
18.	Close up shot of the old man looking confused.
19.	Medium shot of Mr. Smith cupping old man’s face.	Mr. Smith: “You’re so old!”
20.	Black screen with Dorito’s label. “For the Bold” appears underneath.
21.	Long shot of Mr. Smith still cupping old man’s face, looking out into the distance. He cups the old man’s head to his chest.	Mr. Smith: “It’s the future!”

https://youtu.be/Y-P0Hs0ADJY

Dorito’s time machine is very different from the Apple Watch television ad because it is dialogue and action driven. In the Dorito’s ad, there are established main characters and they are telling a cohesive and humorous story. The Apple Watch commercial by contrast is a collage of snapshots put together to describe an emotion and promote a product.